In the Dec. 10, 1984 issue of the New York magazine, noted wine writer, Alexis Bespaloff ruminated on the practice of allowing wines to breathe with the statement, “the fine red wines served at this time of year need a little extra attention to bring out all their special qualities.” He went on to describe an experimental tasting he arranged to test the effects of decanting an aerating on certain wines, especially older reds, might do more to destroy than to enhance the delicate bouquet, fruit, and flavor of certain fine reds. Spurred by Bespaloff, oenologists worldwide, but especially in California and in Italy and Australia, have studied the effects of aeration on reds and have found that not all wines benefit from maximum aeration. Interestingly enough, in a market where growing conditions on the sunny side of a slope might cause a discernable difference between the wines of one estate over those of another, consumers have been willing to accept a “one-size-fits-all” approach to the proper aeration of wines.
One such example of the “one-size-fits-all” approach has been the Vinturi™. Described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,614,614 to Sabadicci, et al (Nov. 10, 2009), the aerator has “two diametrically opposed sidearm passageways fluidly connected to the intermediate passageway to thus enable a second fluid to be drawn into and introduced with the first fluid.” Any effect of aeration observable in use of the Vinturi™ occurs only at a fixed oxygenation ratio; the ratio itself dependent upon the fluid dynamics within a chamber where the “first fluid experiences a slight reduction in pressure” used to entrain oxygen. With no means of varying entrained oxygen within the Vinturi™, Chablis and Bordeaux are oxygenated in the exact same ratio. Given the fixed ratio, there is no assurance of an optimal oxygenation of the wine after passage through the Vinturi™.
In every assertion that “breathing” enhances a wine, the expected results are varied based upon such factors as the type of wine, its age, tannin content, and the use of oaken barrels in its aging. The Oxford English Dictionary says that scientific method is: “a method of procedure that has characterized natural science since the 17th century, consisting in systematic observation, measurement, and experiment, and the formulation, testing, and modification of hypotheses.” To assume that the aesthetic results of oxygenation of wine or, indeed, other beverages such as brewed tea, is a smooth function of the oxygen entrained in the beverage, the need for an iterative regimen of aeration and tasting asserts itself. Repeated aeration and taste testing are necessary to discern the optimal amount of entrained oxygen.
“De gustibus non est disputandum”, i.e. in matters of taste, there can be no argument. Nowhere is this truer than in the purely subjective world of wine. Even where an optimal aeration is proposed, there ought to exist the ability to experiment on one's own. “The discovery of a wine is of greater moment than the discovery of a constellation. The universe is too full of stars.”—Benjamin Franklin.
Even without knowing specific ratios based upon the recited factors in wine, if one accepts the utility of introducing ambient air into contact with wine, the ability to vary the entrained oxygen an aerator introduces becomes a necessity. To exploit such a regimen requires a variable means of wine aeration. The current art lacks a convenient variable aerator for enhancement of wine.